"DEAD END, DO NOT ENTER" warning is no joke. Heed it.

[LongshipOarperator793]

I played for 25 hours into the midzone, never died once, never had to abandon a single trip, car never totaled. Easy game.

So I started a run hoping to upgrade my engine. Got to a midzone area that has the warning "DEAD END, DO NOT ENTER" in the zone. I thought "No problem, just have to collect enough anchors to bail out". I got in and there were only two precious unstable anchors, which was not enough for me to go home. I thought I could go back to the way I came. Nope, got warped right back.

So I had to abandon trip for the first time. Lost both lightning rods, backseat tank, backseat expanded battery and 75% of inventory for that run. Most painful part is I lost 50 out of 60+ thermal rocks thingy for the engine upgrade. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ouch.

[Nick]

That's scary. I didn't know you could end up in a place with less cores than you need to escape.

[LongshipOarperator793]

Originally posted by Khrizto2:

I didn't have enough energy to return once, i just braved the red storm for 15min until an anchor spawned near me and i could leave, ez pz.

Does this work in dead end zones? Im reading posts that say dead end zones don't even have gateways

[LongshipOarperator793]

Originally posted by Nick:

That's scary. I didn't know you could end up in a place with less cores than you need to escape.

Well so if I pick up a medium size stable core that would give me enough juice to leave. In this case I picked up a medium unstable core and a smaller unstable core so theoretically that should give me enough juice to escape. But the gateways never even appeared. I think the problem is dead end zones just don't have gateways. So... just don't go there. My curiosity was sated.

[Armaron]

And that's why I make two separate saves. I regret nothing! :D

[Rogue Scientist]

Dead ends don't *stay* dead ends! Every time you compete a run the zone shifts, and that can include new portals opening in former dead ends.

[HalleysComet]

This is how node works: A node with stable exit can teleport you back if you have enough anchor power. If it is not stable but you have uncovered other nodes it linked to, you can drive to the exit and go to other nodes (though I haven't tested whether you have to plan the route or not). Without those, the node is a dead end.
So basically it is suggested to uncover route and update map when the node is stable, thus it will less likely to be a dead end later.